DAYTON, Ohio - Sophomore Pookie Powell scored 23 points and junior B.J. Johnson recorded his second straight double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds for the La Salle men's basketball team, who dropped a 66-55 decision to Dayton in the Atlantic 10 opener for both teams on Friday.

The Explorers (6-5, 0-1 A10) erased an early five-point deficit with consecutive three-pointers from Powell and senior Cleon Roberts to take a 13-12 lead. La Salle connected on five of its first eight attempts from three-point range and held a 23-22 advantage at the 7:33 mark following a three-ball from Johnson.

Dayton (10-3, 1-0 A10) closed the half on a 16-4 run and held the Explorers to 1-of-11 shooting over the final seven minutes to take a 38-27 lead heading into intermission. Powell had 13 points on 5-of-9 from the floor. Outside of Powell, La Salle shot just 4-for-17 in the opening period.

The Flyers remained in front by double figures for the first seven minutes of the second half before a steal and layup from freshman Isiah Deas put the score at 47-38 with 12:25 on the clock. A three-point play from senior Jordan Price narrowed the margin to 49-41 near the midway point of the second half before a 12-3 spurt by the home squad bumped the margin to 61-44 with less than five minutes remaining.

Eight straight points by the Explorers put the visitors within striking distance at 61-52 with 3:40 left, but that is as close as it would get as Dayton earned its 13th straight home win over La Salle dating back to 1999.

The Explorers return home to Tom Gola Arena on Wednesday, Jan. 4 for their conference home opener against Saint Louis. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m.